5-5 Feliz Cinco De Mayo
Had a relaxing day at Colin and Andrea's. Big breakfast after sleeping in a big comfy bed with a tv for movies. Andrea made a huge steak lunch (I have had lots of steak since I have been here as is typical of Argentinean households).
Colin is originally from New Zealand and is a geologist. He does a lot of work here and moved to Argentina 15 or so years ago where he met and married Andrea. He has led an amazing life bc his geology has taken him all over south america, the us, canada, australia, and even Antarctica. He's a worldclass climber and moutaineer. He has of course climbed Aconcagua, the highest peak outside of the Himalayas, but lots of first ascents in the high Andes of Peru. He also did some very technical routes up Mt Cook, and was on the Mt. Cook NP rescue team for a while in the late 70's. He was showing me some of his sweet old photos of climbing the 6000m peaks in Peru and of Antarctica when he went for 2 seasons in 1982 and 1983. It was really funny to see such old pics of Antarctica. funny how mcmurdo hasnt really changed except having newer vehicles and now only 2 bars instead of the 7 that he used to bar hop at. He has some crazy travel stories too. He managed to live in Peru and Ecuador for 6 months on 50 cents a day (back in the 80's). Him and his friend ran out of money though but needed to get to LA for their scheduled flight back to NZ. THey managed to each get 20 bucks on a cash advance from credit cards in Quito. THey then made it to Mexico City before they ran out of money again (eating every other day). They still managed to get to LA where they slept on the beach until their flight.
Andrea is from San Juan province originally. She knows less English than I know Spanish, but she is so nice, and I really like her. She is very impressed by my spanish now and says it is so much better than when we trekked together in Nepal. I am now able to have conversations with her and she knows how to speak a bit slower for me. She treats me like a prince and is always giving me food, making tasty meat dishes and deserts.
They live in a big house in Mendoza and have a boxer named Guiness. On the top of their deck above the 2nd story they can see the mtns and Colin has built a little climbing wall. Colin also paints pictures of all the big mountains that he has visited and they are amazing.
In the afternoon we drove to the tiny village of Puente Del Inca which is at the base of a small ski resort. On the way up we drove through gorgeous red canyons with towering dry mountains all around and gold trees by the river as we went by the town of Uspallata. This is where the movie 7 years in Tibet was actually filmed. Since it obviously couldn{t be filmed in TIbet, I figure Brad Pitt picked the place he thought would be most fun, and well Mendoza is famous for that...and he probably knew he would be spending a lot of time to come in another place that could pass as tibet, Las Vegas, since he would be making the oceans's 11 movies. We stayed at a ski lodge and had a nice dinner up there to acclimate for the night
5-6 We visited Aconcagua Park. We were going to hike up to one of the South Face (the technical face) camps, but the rangers came up and stopped up saying since it was winter, they didn't want to be responsible for a rescue, which of course made Colin angry since the route was still mostly snow free and we wouldn't be in danger. I heard him explain to them in spanish that in New Zealand the parks are free for people to go as they will and mountains aren't closed. He said this happens to him all the time in Argentina where some beaurocratic thing will keep him from climbing something or hiking another thing. I have noticed this as well, all through the world. It is something I think a lot of people in the States take for granted. But it is one of my favorite freedoms in America, and that is the freedom to do what we want in the wildnerness and go where we want. The freedom to take as much or as little risk as we want, by ourselves without a guide. Climbing longs peak is a bit nuts in the winter for the inexperienced, but no one will stop you or make you pay 200 bucks for a guide. THere is the sign there saying how many people have died (I don{t know how much it is any more, but wasn't it about 50) and telling you the risks, by you are free to make the choice to climb or not. Same with almost all the peaks or cayons or wilderness in our parks, forests, and other public lands. Anyways, bc of this we were only able to hike to a very nice viewpoint of Cerro Aconcagua, the highest peak of the Americas and if fact the highest peak outside of the Himalaya standing at 6962m/22,841ft.
We hiked back down and visited Puente del Inca which is a natural bridge formed by minerals coming out of a hotsprings hardening and solidifying the top of a slide that had dammed the river. When the non hardened dirt of the slide was eroded and the lake emptied, the hardened material on top due to the hotsprings didn't get eroded and created the bridge. There is still a hot springs right near the bridge.
The rangers told us of a mountain that we COULD climb bc it was outside of the park (though it had no trail, was steep, and long, so in effect, much more dangerous than the trail they wouldn't let us hike). So we hiked up this steep scree field peak called Cerro Bandarita Norte (about 4000m/13,100ft). It was definitely a tough hike bc of the lack of trail, the straight up steepness, and all the scree, but from the top we had amazing views of the red valley and canyons below, the snowcovered mountains all around, Volcan Tupangato (6500m) and Aconcagua in front of us.
5-7 We kind of relaxed because of the tough day yesterday. Ate a lot of good food, had some good beer. I went for a bike ride with Andrea through a large park in the city and then up Cerro Gloria, a little hill with a big monument of San Martin (the guy who led argentineans over the Andes to help liberate Chile from the spanish), from where there were nice views down to Mendoza with its fall colors.
We watched a funny Kiwi flick called Scarfies, that if you can find it, is well worth watching.
5-8 I went with Colin out in a different direction on a 4wd road to some mountains to take a hike up a pretty valley full of huge granite slabs that is quite famous for climbing. Along the way we passed the last post of the border army for Argentina where we had to show our passports. From that point on, during our hike, we were in a sort of no man's land between the border controls of Chile and Argentina. The drive over had great views of the Cordillera Plato mountains and of Cerro Tupangato towering above miles and miles and miles of Mendoza's famous vineyards which at this time of the year are a kalaediscope of colors depending on the species of grape. Different shades of oranges, yellows, reds, maroons, and greens. Absolutely gorgeous with this unique pattern of colors and the mountains above. And of course had another delicious meal of beef when we got home.
5-9 Colin was off to a field camp for a week so it was just Andrea and I. We worked on some spanish lessons and then went to the supermarket, which was fun for me bc she wanted me to try everything. They are absolutely sooo nice to me! We came home and made giant emapanadas while singing to Shakira.
In the evening we headed downtown to a bar to meet up with friends of Andrea's and Colin's. They go every wednesday night with this group of people which is a mix of Argentineans and ex-pats. The crazy thing about Argentina is how late everything gets started. It was mostly people my parents' age on a weekday, but the drinking didn't get started until around midnight and went until 4ish in the morning.
5-10
I have been having some symptoms the last month very similar to the giardia I caught in Asia. I took some flagelle, but that didn't work (just like it didn't for the giardia from Asia), so I decided to visit a doctor. I have this strange habit of visiting hosptials in strange lands. Andrea had a friend, Lucas, who is a doctor so I went to see him. He just gave me a prescription to get an analysis done when I get to Buenos Aires. I wasn't completely sure why they couldn't do it here, but I think it's bc they thought I wanted to leave for BA before the test would be finished. My spanish in medical terms isn't so great, but Lucas knew some English. The funniest part was how he kept saying I would need to "give a shit for the analysis". It kind of cracked me up. It was obviously the only word he knew similar to stool sample, but you just think of how sterile doctors are in the states using words like stool sample or bowel movement.
After visiting the doctor, Andrea toured me around downtown Mendoza. She took me to a fancy outdoor cafe for breakfast where people eat panini's and have cappuccinos (well, of course I had a hot cocoa), and we watched the people walk by on the pedestrian street, including a protest of striking power plant workers who were setting off loud fireworks. We then visited some of the big plazas of Mendoza and visited an old art museum. We then did some shopping at vegetable markets to prepare for a big taco fiesta Andrea was hosting that night.
In the afternoon we went for a bike ride up a hill on the outskirts of Mendoza and then came back to start working on the taco dinner. Of course, as in typical in Argentina, it all got started late and the guests arrived around 10pm. We played some Jenga and other games before eating around midnight. Then the drinking began with the popular Fernet and Coke and a couple of other popular mixed drinks here, one of which was fairly similar to a gin and tonic. Everyone was very nice and they spoke slow spanish for me so I could understand, but eventually they had too much to drink and the words became faster and more slurred, so that I was hopeless to understand. I went to bed about 3am, but today I heard the party raged on until 5 or so in the morning.
5-11People were still around this morning to have breakfast and others that had to work stopped by for food during the afternoon siesta break.
This evening I have a night bus that takes about 15 hours to Buenos Aires. I will be sad to leave bc it was a nice "vacation" from my travels, but I am ready to get moving on. But I am greatly appreciative of all they did for me, and it was cool to hang out with some people who live here and do more than just the typical tourist and travel things.
Had a relaxing day at Colin and Andrea's. Big breakfast after sleeping in a big comfy bed with a tv for movies. Andrea made a huge steak lunch (I have had lots of steak since I have been here as is typical of Argentinean households).
Colin is originally from New Zealand and is a geologist. He does a lot of work here and moved to Argentina 15 or so years ago where he met and married Andrea. He has led an amazing life bc his geology has taken him all over south america, the us, canada, australia, and even Antarctica. He's a worldclass climber and moutaineer. He has of course climbed Aconcagua, the highest peak outside of the Himalayas, but lots of first ascents in the high Andes of Peru. He also did some very technical routes up Mt Cook, and was on the Mt. Cook NP rescue team for a while in the late 70's. He was showing me some of his sweet old photos of climbing the 6000m peaks in Peru and of Antarctica when he went for 2 seasons in 1982 and 1983. It was really funny to see such old pics of Antarctica. funny how mcmurdo hasnt really changed except having newer vehicles and now only 2 bars instead of the 7 that he used to bar hop at. He has some crazy travel stories too. He managed to live in Peru and Ecuador for 6 months on 50 cents a day (back in the 80's). Him and his friend ran out of money though but needed to get to LA for their scheduled flight back to NZ. THey managed to each get 20 bucks on a cash advance from credit cards in Quito. THey then made it to Mexico City before they ran out of money again (eating every other day). They still managed to get to LA where they slept on the beach until their flight.
Andrea is from San Juan province originally. She knows less English than I know Spanish, but she is so nice, and I really like her. She is very impressed by my spanish now and says it is so much better than when we trekked together in Nepal. I am now able to have conversations with her and she knows how to speak a bit slower for me. She treats me like a prince and is always giving me food, making tasty meat dishes and deserts.
They live in a big house in Mendoza and have a boxer named Guiness. On the top of their deck above the 2nd story they can see the mtns and Colin has built a little climbing wall. Colin also paints pictures of all the big mountains that he has visited and they are amazing.
In the afternoon we drove to the tiny village of Puente Del Inca which is at the base of a small ski resort. On the way up we drove through gorgeous red canyons with towering dry mountains all around and gold trees by the river as we went by the town of Uspallata. This is where the movie 7 years in Tibet was actually filmed. Since it obviously couldn{t be filmed in TIbet, I figure Brad Pitt picked the place he thought would be most fun, and well Mendoza is famous for that...and he probably knew he would be spending a lot of time to come in another place that could pass as tibet, Las Vegas, since he would be making the oceans's 11 movies. We stayed at a ski lodge and had a nice dinner up there to acclimate for the night
5-6 We visited Aconcagua Park. We were going to hike up to one of the South Face (the technical face) camps, but the rangers came up and stopped up saying since it was winter, they didn't want to be responsible for a rescue, which of course made Colin angry since the route was still mostly snow free and we wouldn't be in danger. I heard him explain to them in spanish that in New Zealand the parks are free for people to go as they will and mountains aren't closed. He said this happens to him all the time in Argentina where some beaurocratic thing will keep him from climbing something or hiking another thing. I have noticed this as well, all through the world. It is something I think a lot of people in the States take for granted. But it is one of my favorite freedoms in America, and that is the freedom to do what we want in the wildnerness and go where we want. The freedom to take as much or as little risk as we want, by ourselves without a guide. Climbing longs peak is a bit nuts in the winter for the inexperienced, but no one will stop you or make you pay 200 bucks for a guide. THere is the sign there saying how many people have died (I don{t know how much it is any more, but wasn't it about 50) and telling you the risks, by you are free to make the choice to climb or not. Same with almost all the peaks or cayons or wilderness in our parks, forests, and other public lands. Anyways, bc of this we were only able to hike to a very nice viewpoint of Cerro Aconcagua, the highest peak of the Americas and if fact the highest peak outside of the Himalaya standing at 6962m/22,841ft.
We hiked back down and visited Puente del Inca which is a natural bridge formed by minerals coming out of a hotsprings hardening and solidifying the top of a slide that had dammed the river. When the non hardened dirt of the slide was eroded and the lake emptied, the hardened material on top due to the hotsprings didn't get eroded and created the bridge. There is still a hot springs right near the bridge.
The rangers told us of a mountain that we COULD climb bc it was outside of the park (though it had no trail, was steep, and long, so in effect, much more dangerous than the trail they wouldn't let us hike). So we hiked up this steep scree field peak called Cerro Bandarita Norte (about 4000m/13,100ft). It was definitely a tough hike bc of the lack of trail, the straight up steepness, and all the scree, but from the top we had amazing views of the red valley and canyons below, the snowcovered mountains all around, Volcan Tupangato (6500m) and Aconcagua in front of us.
5-7 We kind of relaxed because of the tough day yesterday. Ate a lot of good food, had some good beer. I went for a bike ride with Andrea through a large park in the city and then up Cerro Gloria, a little hill with a big monument of San Martin (the guy who led argentineans over the Andes to help liberate Chile from the spanish), from where there were nice views down to Mendoza with its fall colors.
We watched a funny Kiwi flick called Scarfies, that if you can find it, is well worth watching.
5-8 I went with Colin out in a different direction on a 4wd road to some mountains to take a hike up a pretty valley full of huge granite slabs that is quite famous for climbing. Along the way we passed the last post of the border army for Argentina where we had to show our passports. From that point on, during our hike, we were in a sort of no man's land between the border controls of Chile and Argentina. The drive over had great views of the Cordillera Plato mountains and of Cerro Tupangato towering above miles and miles and miles of Mendoza's famous vineyards which at this time of the year are a kalaediscope of colors depending on the species of grape. Different shades of oranges, yellows, reds, maroons, and greens. Absolutely gorgeous with this unique pattern of colors and the mountains above. And of course had another delicious meal of beef when we got home.
5-9 Colin was off to a field camp for a week so it was just Andrea and I. We worked on some spanish lessons and then went to the supermarket, which was fun for me bc she wanted me to try everything. They are absolutely sooo nice to me! We came home and made giant emapanadas while singing to Shakira.
In the evening we headed downtown to a bar to meet up with friends of Andrea's and Colin's. They go every wednesday night with this group of people which is a mix of Argentineans and ex-pats. The crazy thing about Argentina is how late everything gets started. It was mostly people my parents' age on a weekday, but the drinking didn't get started until around midnight and went until 4ish in the morning.
5-10
I have been having some symptoms the last month very similar to the giardia I caught in Asia. I took some flagelle, but that didn't work (just like it didn't for the giardia from Asia), so I decided to visit a doctor. I have this strange habit of visiting hosptials in strange lands. Andrea had a friend, Lucas, who is a doctor so I went to see him. He just gave me a prescription to get an analysis done when I get to Buenos Aires. I wasn't completely sure why they couldn't do it here, but I think it's bc they thought I wanted to leave for BA before the test would be finished. My spanish in medical terms isn't so great, but Lucas knew some English. The funniest part was how he kept saying I would need to "give a shit for the analysis". It kind of cracked me up. It was obviously the only word he knew similar to stool sample, but you just think of how sterile doctors are in the states using words like stool sample or bowel movement.
After visiting the doctor, Andrea toured me around downtown Mendoza. She took me to a fancy outdoor cafe for breakfast where people eat panini's and have cappuccinos (well, of course I had a hot cocoa), and we watched the people walk by on the pedestrian street, including a protest of striking power plant workers who were setting off loud fireworks. We then visited some of the big plazas of Mendoza and visited an old art museum. We then did some shopping at vegetable markets to prepare for a big taco fiesta Andrea was hosting that night.
In the afternoon we went for a bike ride up a hill on the outskirts of Mendoza and then came back to start working on the taco dinner. Of course, as in typical in Argentina, it all got started late and the guests arrived around 10pm. We played some Jenga and other games before eating around midnight. Then the drinking began with the popular Fernet and Coke and a couple of other popular mixed drinks here, one of which was fairly similar to a gin and tonic. Everyone was very nice and they spoke slow spanish for me so I could understand, but eventually they had too much to drink and the words became faster and more slurred, so that I was hopeless to understand. I went to bed about 3am, but today I heard the party raged on until 5 or so in the morning.
5-11People were still around this morning to have breakfast and others that had to work stopped by for food during the afternoon siesta break.
This evening I have a night bus that takes about 15 hours to Buenos Aires. I will be sad to leave bc it was a nice "vacation" from my travels, but I am ready to get moving on. But I am greatly appreciative of all they did for me, and it was cool to hang out with some people who live here and do more than just the typical tourist and travel things.
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